I love pumpkins. Really & Truly; I love the way they look, I love to grow them, I love to bake with them, I love to draw silly faces on them, I love to search for more of them with my boys, I love to photograph them...
This year, I am even more passionate than in years past because last year we had no pumpkins! The weeks and weeks of rain we had in the spring/early summer of 2009 ruined the pumpkin crops to the point that we couldn't even find the canned stuff!!
So now I will pay proper tribute to one of my favorite ingredients to work with in the kitchen. May I present the perfect pumpkin...
After you have taken in her beauty, it's time for business. This is what most folks around here call a pie pumpkin. It is small and round, and has more flesh than the type you would use for a jack-o-lantern.
Cut off the top, and then slice right down the center...
My favorite way to prepare the pulp is to bake it. First, scoop out the seeds & stringy bits (save those seeds for later!). Then, place the pumpkin halves in a baking dish, cut side down, and bake at 350 for about 45 minutes. The skin should sink in a bit, as shown, and it should be fork tender.
**Edited to add: At this point, the skin should pull right off just using your fingers. If it doesn't come off easily, pop it back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes. Remove all skin before proceeding.**
Now you are ready to puree. You can use a potato masher, regular blender, or my favorite, a hand blender...
This pureed goodness can be used immediately, or frozen for use in recipes all winter & spring. Our family's most favorite recipe is for pumpkin bread (or muffins) and was given to me by my friend Cathy, from her Grandma.
Cathy's Grandma's Pumpkin Bread
Cream together:
3 cups sugar
1 cup oil
4 large eggs
Add:
2 cups fresh pumpkin puree
or
2 cups canned pumpkin plus 2/3 cup water
Mix Together:
3 1/3 cup flour (all white or half white, half wheat)
2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cloves
optional
add 1 cup each chopped walnuts & dates
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir with wooden spoon.
Bake in 2 greased cake pans for 1 hour, check at 50 minutes if you have a hot oven.
Also make wonderful muffins, baking for about half the time.
yield
2 loaves or 24 muffins
**Please note, should you want to photograph your loaves in their entirety, best wait to bake them when you are home alone. Personally, I feel like I am in a National Geographic special when I put home-baked goodness on the table and all of those boys come charging in ;-)
Now for the seeds. I have tried many methods for toasting pumpkin seeds, and my hands down favorite is this one that I found on the internet after a friend suggested brining them first.
Do you have a favorite pumpkin recipe??
Happy Baking!!
It's a toss-up between pumpkin pie and pumpkin ice cream for me. Although the ice cream keeps better, I feel guilty eating it for breakfast. Unlike pumpkin pie, which is an EXCELLENT breakfast food, as everybody knows.
ReplyDeleteI love roast pumpkin and pumpkin soup (a weekly staple in our house). I've never tried pumpkin pie though - I've only had pumpkin as a savoury so it sounds a little unusual...but tempting :-)
ReplyDeleteoh, this is lovely michelle!
ReplyDeletei look forward to trying your recipe : )
OH how I do love fall and pumpkins - thanks for the pumpkin seed recipe - we'll definitely try that and the pumpkin bread too!
ReplyDeleteYA for pumpkins! I'm usually partial to pie but your pumpkin loaf looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteWow! I love pumpkins in basically every shape and form -- and yes I think they do count as breakfast food.
ReplyDeleteWe roast seeds every year and have tried some different ways, I think we will try this method this year. Our favorite so far has been to allow the seeds to dry overnight (I think a Martha Stewart recipe) though I often find it hard to wait that long to roast them!
We don't use pumpkin very much here in Denmark - except for lanterns at Halloween.
ReplyDeleteWe have kind of reinvented Halloween here in DK. A very long time ago "All Saints Night" was celebrated, and now some of the Danes have adopted Halloween.
Well... back to pumpkins. I was wondering: Do you peel of the skin after baking it in the oven - og do you just puree the whole thing?
I have seen so many receipes for pumpkin lately, that I think I have to try some out. That pumpkin-bread looks so good.
Only I don't think I will be able to buy pie-pumpkin in DK. Just the Jack-o-lantern-type.
Do you think that will do for your receipes?
So many questions... I hope you don't mind ;)
Karina
Thanks for the ideas ladies!
ReplyDeleteAnd Karina~
After you bake the pumpkins, when they are fork tender & ready, the peel will come right off by pulling it with your fingers. If it gives you any trouble, pop it back in the oven for another 10 minutes. You can use the other kind of pumpkin for this too, you just won't get as much pulp, and it may be a little stringier. Do you have canned pumpkin in Denmark? That will work, too, just remember to add the 2/3 cup water to the recipe.
Hope that helps, and please let me know how it turns out:-)
Wow I said how many pumpkins in the other picture but this is ... wow wow wow
ReplyDeletepumpkins all month, ha ha ha a lot of dishes and desserts :)
my favorite pumpkin recipe is one I made up. just make a smoothie using frozen (ripe) bananas, milk (any kind, I use almond), pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice.
ReplyDeleteI've just linked up this post to my recipe post today. I haven't made it yet...but I did use your method for making pumpkin puree (so yummy...made the house smell divine!)Thx!! xxx
ReplyDeleteThanks Cate, I hope it comes out yummy:-)
ReplyDeleteAnd Christine, I'll have to try that, it sounds great-- and we have PLENTY of pumpkins!!
I just tried to make pumpkin puree the way you showed - it worked! Thank you. In Denmark you can't buy it in a can, but that doesn't matter, now I can make my own (which is best after all, right?). Again, Thank you.
ReplyDeleteConny Hillgaard, Denmark